英语词汇实用小百科 别墅villa

Xiaohua: 欢迎来到本周的词汇小百科，RoundTable’s Word of the Week. This week, we are talking about “villa¹.” The reason is that in our show we were talking about some of the Chinese rich people who want to buy these fake castles.

John: Right. We started talking about the Chinese word bieshu is used in a way that’s really not very indicative of the way it’s actually used in English. Originally, the word “villa” actually comes from the meaning of “an ancient Roman upper-class country house.” Villas² are actually the predecessor³ to what you might call a plantation⁴ these days. It was a large house, a very, very large residence, but attached to that residence was also a farm and so many of these ancient Roman villas were actually self-sufficient.

XH: Villa翻译成中文就是别墅。我们一般觉得别墅就是house,独栋的房屋，但原来咋英文里，villa指的是带很大一块地产的房屋。

John: And even more recently, if we look at the 19th and 20th century, in Europe, the term “villa” became used to describe detached mansions⁶. Even then we see in more modern usages what Chinese people call “villa” is not really the way that we use it in English.

XH: So even today, when the English speaking people talk about what Chinese people refer to as bieshu, they’re actually really just talking about houses.

John: Exactly. And so what they’re describing more is probably what we would actually a townhouse. A townhouse is usually, it’s a type of medium-density housing usually, but not always, terraced or semi-detached. So, row-housing, so, two or three floors of housing with a very small actual ground footprint, which is what we usually see when we’re talking about bieshu or villas in China.

XH: Townhouse既可以指联排别墅，也可以指那种独栋的房屋。

John: It’s also made me think of the word dasha, in Chinese, which is usually translated as “mansion⁵.” However, we see a lot of these supposed mansions are actually more like office buildings or something like that or perhaps even they house department stores whereas a “mansion” in English, the way that we use it, is literally⁷, it’s just a huge house.

XH: Mansion是独栋的住宅，在中文里也被用于泛指所有的大厦。And, I don’t think in any Chinese usage of “mansion” they mean a property with some greenery around it.

John: No, I really don’t think they do. A mansion actually comes from through Old French from Latin which just means “dwelling⁸,” so mansio which means dwelling as well as the verb “to dwell.” Actually, the English word “manse” was actually defined as a property large enough for a parish priest to maintain himself. Also, interestingly enough, in more day-to-day usage, more slang in America, we have a new word that we’ve created called a “McMansion.” Basically, it describes a very quickly and cheaply built large luxury home. “Mc” obviously comes from McDonald’s and so the idea is it’s built on the factory line and somehow put there. You can buy a large home for fairly cheap, but it’s low quality.

XH: 所以也许McMansion可以翻译成土豪式的别墅？

John: Something like that, yeah.

XH: And that’s all we have for Round Table’s Word of the Week.

1 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

2 villas   

别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅

参考例句：

• Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
• Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。

3 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

4 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

5 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

6 mansions   

n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifth Avenue was boarded up where the rich had deserted their mansions. 第五大道上的富翁们已经出去避暑，空出的宅第都已锁好了门窗，钉上了木板。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Oh, the mansions, the lights, the perfume, the loaded boudoirs and tables! 啊，那些高楼大厦、华灯、香水、藏金收银的闺房还有摆满山珍海味的餐桌！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。